I will be in Barcelona on Oct. 12th - Spanish National Day. How much of Barcelona shuts down for the holiday? How will it impcat my doing touristy activities?
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
3373 posts
Not sure how they celebrate in Catalunya (since they kind of like the idea of being separate form the country), but I suspect since it is a public holiday nationwide, not much will happen (they love holidays). I was in Barcelona on Labor Day (May 1) and banks were closed, few stores were open (even the big department stores were closed), many restaurants closed, and very few museums were open (but some were). I wouldn't plan your "must see" activities for this day, just in case. Check the websites for their hours - most will say whether they are open on public holidays.
Posted by
Victoria, BC, Canada
101 posts
Looking forward to hearing some responses too... I was just trying to find out what will be open, as we will be in Nasare' that day.
Thanks Arnie for posing the question :)
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17612 posts
People were discussing this on Tripadvisor this past October. The gist was that Spanish National Day is not celebrated in Barcelona, which is in Catalunya. There are strong separatist feelings and I read there were some protests, but not much recognition of the holiday otherwise. The Catalan people on the Barcelona forum asked, "Why would we celebrate a Spanish national holiday? We are not Spanish!"